The Federal High Court, Lagos, on Monday ordered two foreign nationals and three Nigerians on drug charges to be remanded in prison custody till Aug. 18.
They were alleged to have imported N4 billion worth of substances, suspected to be cocaine on July 22.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency had arrested the suspects at the Tin Can Island port, Lagos, with the substances.
The five accused are facing a four-count charge of conspiracy and aiding the importation of the substance into Nigeria from the Republic of Chile.
The accused are: Fong Chiu Sen (Taiwanese), Wang Richard (Chinese), Inua Mohammed, Ezeala Kingsley and Godswill Asomugha.
Chiu Sen and Richard were charged with importing 450.4 kg of cocaine contrary to Section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act Cap 30, Laws of the Federation 2004.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The prosecution counsel, Femi Oloruntoba, told the court that they were ready for the trial with 12 witnesses.
But the counsel to the accused,Ndakara Benson, urged the court to grant them bail.
The application, was, however, rejected on the grounds that the defence counsel had yet to respond to the counter-affidavit filed by the prosecution.
In his remarks, Justice Okon Abang, promised accelerated trial of the matter and adjourned hearing on the bail application till Aug. 18.
He said the trial would commence on Sept. 6.
No comments:
Post a Comment